Worldwide Music News from The Steel City

This summer,Friday Music will celebrate the legendary guitarist Steve Vai’s landmark solo breakthrough with the stunning Passion and Warfare-25th Anniversary Edition.

This exclusive Friday Music first time 180 Gram Audiophile vinyl is impeccably mastered and enhanced on 2 LP CLEAR Lps with 4 recently unearthed bonus tracks, featured in a first time gatefold cover presentation and pressed at R.T.I.

Passion and Warfare established the guitarist as a solo force to be reckoned with. Recorded entirely in Vai’s Mothership home studio, Passion and Warfarerepresents Steve Vai as a melodic, heavy guitarist with a gift for remarkable composition and a deep desire to convey the mystical and the metaphysical through his every last note.

The result was nothing short of stellar. The album was championed by critics: Guitar Player and Guitar World named it the best album of 1990, and both magazines showered him with individual awards;Guitar Player awarded Vai the titles of Best Rock Guitarist for the fifth year in a row and Best Overall Guitarist for the third year in a row, while Guitar World named him Best Rock Guitarist and deemed “For the Love of God” the year’s best guitar solo. (A subsequent Guitar World readers’ poll voted “For the Love of God” as one of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time.)

Passion and Warfare was commercially successful. Boosted by the fan-favorite video for “The Audience is Listening,” which received heavy rotation on MTV, the album peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200-no small feat for an instrumental guitar album. This crossover appeal set the stage for Vai’s continued successes throughout his career.

For this Friday Music 180 Gram Clear Vinyl limited edition of Passion and Warfare, newly remastered from the original analog tapes, will include four newly discovered recordings from the album sessions: “Love Elixir,” “We Are One,” “As Above” and “So Below.”

Joe Reagoso from Friday Music comments “Steve Vai is absolutely the voice of millions of guitar enthusiasts across the globe. When one revisits ‘Passion and Warfare’, it truly signifies the importance and sound of this guitar hero. He always surprises his fans with some of the most exciting guitar work that is often emulated but never duplicated. A true guitar genius and an American original!”

Known for his intense, virtuosic and instantly recognizable guitar style, Vai-a onetime student of Joe Satriani-rose to prominence in 1980 when Frank Zappa invited the 20-year-old guitarist to join his touring band. He has since performed with a variety of acts from Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne to Joe Jackson and heavy metal group Alcatrazz (where he replaced fellow virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen).

Vai remains one of the most honored guitarists of the past few decades. He’s won three Grammy Awards and garnered another eight nominations. In a Guitar World reader poll in 2012, Vai was voted the 10th greatest guitarist of all time. A seven-string guitar designed by Vai for Ibanez has been utilized by progressive and metal bands including Korn and Dream Theater. Guitarists from Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine to Mike Eizinger of Incubus have cited him as major influences on their playing.

And Vai still makes a name for himself as a relentless live performer. Shortly after the release of his album Fire Garden, Vai joined former teacher Satriani on the inaugural superstar guitar summit G3 in 1996; his highly stylized sets have been a fixture of subsequent G3 tours since then. This spring, Vai leads the Generation Axe tour, featuring Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi in an onslaught of six-string supremacy.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE ONE

1. Liberty

2. Erotic Nightmares

3. The Animal

4. Answers

5. The Riddle

SIDE TWO

1. Ballerina 12/24

2. For The Love Of God

3. The Audience Is Listening

4. I Would Love To

SIDE THREE

1.Blue Powder

2. Greasy Kid’s Stuff

3. Alien Water Kiss

4. Sisters

5. Love Secrets

SIDE FOUR (25th ANNIVERSARY BONUS TRACKS)

1. Lovely Elixir

2. And We Are One (Solo #2)

3. As Above

4. So Below

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ABOUT FRIDAY MUSIC:

Friday Music is a premier reissue label, specializing in audiophile versions of classic albums. Their catalog of several hundred albums includes works by such legends as Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Billy Joel, and recent Rock Hall inductees Cheap Trick, Chicago and Deep Purple.

These and other Friday Music titles can be purchased/pre-ordered from the Friday Music website, as well as select online and brick-and-mortar retailers.